Warm Lunches are a Hit

This week I made two quick and easy options that we will have for dinner and Lola will have in her lunch the following day. The thermos is working great and Lola is eating it all.   On Sunday, I went to the grocery late so didn't have everything prepared for lunch Monday.  Therefore the kids ate frozen pizza for dinner.... organic frozen pizza, but still frozen pizza. I heated the left over pizza for her lunch Monday and just wrapped in foil and she loved it.  She had 2 pieces of pizza, apples, turkey and cheese.  I will make a homemade veggie and chicken pizza next week for dinner and school lunch.

Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice-

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1¼ pounds chicken sausage cut into tiny bite size pieces for toddlers
• 1 pound dry red beans
• 1 tsp salt, or more to taste
• ½ tsp black pepper
• Pinch of Tony's seasoning or Tabasco sauce
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Rinse the beans and drain
2. Add all the ingredients to the crock pot and set to low and cook for 8-9 hours
3. When there is one hour remaining, use a wooden spoon to mash some of the beans and continue cooking (my mom taught me this trick.  Seems totaly crazy, but it thickens the beans and makes for the perfect consistency)
4. Serve over rice, cauliflower rice or by itself

Lola's Lunch on Tuesday: Red beans and rice with turkey sausage, blueberry Greek yogurt muffin, carrots and grapes.  She ate all of the red beans and said they stayed warm:)  She ate a few carrots, all of the grapes and a few bites of the muffin. We had the beans for dinner Monday night with a kale salad for me and steamed broccoli for the kids.

Minestrone Soup with Ground Turkey 

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs Olive Oil 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped
• 4 big carrots, chopped
• 4 zucchini, sliced in thin rounds
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 6 cups of chicken stock
• 28 oz deiced tomato
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1 can chick peas
• 1 can red kidney beans
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Three cheese tortellini

Instructions:

1. Saute onion, garlic, and parsley in olive oil
2. Add Carrots, zuchinni, and celery and cook for 15 minutes
3. In a separate pan, brown the ground turkey.
4. Drain the ground turkey add to the vegetables. 
5. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans and seasoning. 
6. Cover and reduce to simmer and allow to cook for 1.5 hours. 
7. Add tortellini and cook for 30 more minutes

We ate this for Dinner Tuesday night and Lola took to school Wednesday.  Lola's lunch Wednesday:  Minestrone soup with ground turkey, strawberries, cheese and pretzels. 

 Blueberry and Greek Yogurt muffins 

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup  plain, full fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup  honey
• 2 Tbsp coconut palm sugar or coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg then stir in the yogurt, honey, sugar, almond milk, and vanilla, mixing until well combined.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling almost to the top. top with 4-6 blueberries.
6. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are firm to the touch and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

 Sweet helper

 Love using the silicon muffin liners.  No need for cooking spray, doesn't stick and easy to clean.

 Loving his muffins as an after nap snack.   I think he is still sleeping here:)